Worldwide Sports News

Well friends, I come bearing good news: this is the last week without baseball for a very, very long time. For the San Francisco Giants, pitchers and catchers will report to Scottsdale next Tuesday, and then we’re off to the races.

Speaking of races, we’re nearing the end of this one. We have fewer than 10 names that we need to add to the 2026 Willie McCovey Memorial Community Prospect List before we will have successfully ranked the top 44 prospects in the organization once more!

Our next name is a prospect who was somewhat forgotten about, but could play a key role in 2026: it’s outfielder and first baseman Victor Bericoto, who has been voted in as the No. 35 prospect in the system. That’s a drop of 11 spots for Bericoto, who was our No. 24 prospect in last year’s CPL.

There’s a little bit of prospect fatigue for Bericoto, a right-handed hitter and fielder, and for a while there was the matter of whether or not he actually had a future (or present) with the organization. He was signed all the way back in 2018 out of Venezuela, and entered Minor League free agency this winter. But he re-signed with the Giants, and now he’ll look to find his way onto the Major League roster.

Bericoto has some of the best power in the system, as evidenced by his breakout 2023 campaign in which he hit 27 home runs between High-A Eugene and AA Richmond, while sporting a .239 isolated slugging … despite being in just his age-21 season. But things stalled out for him in 2024, when he spent the entire season in AA and only hit 11 home runs, matching his total at the level from the year prior, in well over twice as many plate appearances. He was the epitome of an average hitter in the Eastern League, with a wRC+ of exactly 100. Given that he derives virtually all of his value as a hitter, that knocked a lot of the shine off of his prospect pedigree.

2025 was a much more encouraging season, but it was a roller-coaster as well, all the way up to the aforementioned free agency and re-signing. Bericoto returned to Richmond for a third year, and he didn’t stay long. He played just 13 games, collected multiple hits in four of those games, and hit .319/.439/.596 — staggering numbers for the offensively-challenged Eastern League. That earned him the ultra-early mid-April promotion to AAA Sacramento, where he was a step away from the bigs for the first time in his life.

That’s when the dip in the roller coaster came and, unlike with actual roller coasters, dips are not the fun part for athletes. Bericoto played just 11 games for the River Cats, hitting .196/.196/.283 for a .478 OPS and a 16 wRC+, before hitting the shelves for a few weeks with an injury. When he returned to health (after six rehab games in the Complex League in which he hit 11-23 with seven extra-base hits), top prospect Bryce Eldridge had supplanted him on the first base bag in Sacramento. With the AAA roster positively overflowing with outfielders, Bericoto was, disappointingly, returned to Richmond for another run in AA.

The results were initially quite poor. Perhaps it was just a slump, perhaps it was the injury lingering, or perhaps it was the disappointment of a fourth stint in AA (it did feel a little bit like Marco Luciano’s end to the season, when the writing was on the wall and his performance followed), but Bericoto couldn’t hit a lick upon his re-arrival in Richmond. He returned on June 3 and failed to find the Mendoza Line in both June and July, hitting just 29-155 with 12 extra-base hits, 16 walks, and 44 strikeouts (a very high number for someone who historically had fairly decent strikeout numbers).

But as the calendar — and, it seemed, his time with the organization — neared a close, Bericoto found his swing once again. He surpassed his June and July hit total in August alone, and from the start of the month until the end of the season, he hit a sensational 48-142 with 11 extra-base hits, 17 walks, and 40 strikeouts (admittedly still a high strikeout total). Despite the awful midseason slump, he finished the year with a .784 OPS and a 130 wRC+ in AA, and showed there’s nothing left for him to learn — or prove — at that level.

And now there’s a spot for him in AAA. The outfield, instead of overflowing, is thin: Marco Luciano is gone, as is Wade Meckler and, presumably, Hunter Bishop. Luis Matos and Jerar Encarnación are out of options, so they are highly unlikely to be manning Sacramento’s grass. The outfielders the Giants added in the offseason are already gone. And with Eldridge a favorite to crack San Francisco’s Opening Day roster, there’s even a likely opening at first base.

While Bericoto is a bat-first player, he’s no slouch with the glove. He’s perfectly competent at first base, and I’d go so far as to call him decent in the outfield. He doesn’t need to light the world on fire in the batter’s box to be a valuable Major Leaguer … if he can hit above league average, he can help the Giants, and it wouldn’t be a shock if he finds his way onto the big league roster sometime this summer.

And, despite having been signed during the Bobby Evans regime, Bericoto isn’t exactly pushing time on the age scale, either: he only turned 24 in December, putting him in the same age category as plenty of the Giants selections from the 2023 draft.

He’s always shown a lot of promise. Maybe this year we see it on the largest stage.

Now let’s add to the list! As a reminder, voting now takes place in the comment section using the “rec” feature.

The list so far

1. Bryce Eldridge — 1B
2. Josuar González — SS
3. Jhonny Level — SS
4. Bo Davidson — CF
5. Dakota Jordan — CF
6. Luis Hernández — SS
7. Gavin Kilen — SS
8. Carson Whisenhunt — LHP
9. Blade Tidwell — RHP
10. Keyner Martinez — RHP
11. Jacob Bresnahan — LHP
12. Trevor McDonald — RHP
13. Argenis Cayama — RHP
14. Luis De La Torre — LHP
15. Trevor Cohen — OF
16. Jesús Rodríguez — C
17. Parks Harber — OF/3B
18. Carlos Gutierrez — OF
19. Drew Cavanaugh — C
20. Daniel Susac — C
21. Gerelmi Maldonado — RHP
22. Josh Bostick — RHP
23. Lorenzo Meola — SS/2B
24. Will Bednar — RHP
25. Yunior Marte — RHP
26. Joe Whitman — LHP
27. Joel Peguero — RHP
28. Alberto Laroche — RHP
29. Trent Harris — RHP
30. Carlos De La Rosa — LHP
31. Diego Velasquez — 2B
32. Lisbel Diaz — OF
33. Maui Ahuna — SS
34. Cam Maldonado — OF
35. Victor Bericoto — OF/1B

Note: Clicking on the above names will link to the CPL where they were voted onto the list.

No. 36 prospect nominees

Rayner Arias — 19.9-year old OF — .173 OPS/-42 wRC+ in Low-A (30 PA); .699 OPS/87 wRC+ in ACL (178 PA)

Sabin Ceballos — 23.5-year old 3B — .670 OPS/102 wRC+ in AA (420 PA)

Jack Choate — 24.9-year old LHP — 3.51 ERA/4.17 FIP in AA (102.2 IP)

Jakob Christian — 23.4-year old OF/1B — .950 OPS/155 wRC+ in High-A (92 PA); .815 OPS/119 wRC+ in Low-A (318 PA)

Reggie Crawford — 25.1-year old LHP — did not pitch in 2025; 1.04 ERA/4.07 FIP in AAA in 2024 (8.2 IP); 4.66 ERA/4.93 FIP in AA in 2024 (9.2 IP)

Reid Worley — 19.6-year old RHP — yet to debut

Note: Each player’s first name links to their Baseball-Reference page, and their last name links to their Fangraphs page. All stats are from the 2025 season.

Seventh in the series. Today we look at the Cubs’ veteran second baseman.

28-year-old Nico Hoerner, two-time Gold Glover, potential .300 hitter, team leader, is entering the last year of his contract. Odds favor his retention but probably not by much — there are a lot of wheels spinning.

Many fans would prefer that Dansby Swanson, subject of the previous profile, be moved somehow, and Nico installed at short, with Matt Shaw or a reasonable equivalent taking over at second. That’s somewhat more unlikely.

The Cubs would do a deal, at least theoretically, but are floating high demands for Hoerner’s services, and rightly so. Hoerner doesn’t hit for much power, instead preferring the high-average, contact-bat presence, which suits his skillset admirably. He could play in any era of baseball. He’s a ‘gamer,’ who ‘always shows up when the chips are down,’ almost to the degree that he’s taken for granted, and some writers have it that he is underappreciated nationally.

In seven seasons, three of which were partial campaigns, Hoerner has amassed a decent 21.8 bWAR (20 fWAR), bolstered by his excellent defense and baserunning. He has 6.2 and 5.5 bWAR seasons in his trophy case, but he has yet to appear in the Midsummer Classic.

Nico should be a perennial all-star. That he isn’t lends weight to those writerly complaints. Maybe it isn’t just a narrative.

Hopefully it doesn’t happen with another team. Hoerner could keep this production level well into his thirties, perhaps slowing some but adding a little thump to his plate presence.

Unless the Cubs really dial down the budget for 2027, someone is going to have to beat him out to take over his spot. Matt Shaw likely has the talent to do it, but he’ll have to demonstrate.

With Swanson, Hoerner, Alex Bregman and Michael Busch, the Cubs have perhaps the best defensive infield in the majors. They should be right up there offensively, with three of the four players regularly topping 20 homers and Hoerner flirting with .300, which is a difficult number to dial up these days. He’s penciled in to lead off against left-handers in our current understanding, and that will help promote that, along with allowing him to score even more runs and maybe up his OBP some more as well.

How do you negotiate a contract with THE star player?

Not a star player, not a guy you love having around, but the face of the club and indeed arguably at the time the face of baseball itself? How do you negotiate while at the same time attempting to secure personal control over the sport’s most valuable organization?

These were the questions Brian Cashman was forced to grapple with after the 2010 season, when the Captain, Derek Jeter, was a free agent for the first time in his career. George Steinbrenner’s passing the year before meant control of the team went to Hal and Hank, George’s sons, but neither brother really operated — or in Hal’s case, continues to operate — with the same kind of fire, for better and worse. Randy Levine and the other lizards in the executive suites held various roles of course, but Cashman was in the thick of making the Yankees his team, and picking a very public fight with the fifth or sixth most important player in team history was one part of establishing that control.

Derek Jeter
Signing Date: December 7, 2010
Contract: 3 years, $51,000,000

It would be a little silly of me to recap Jeter’s career before he hit free agency, since most anyone reading this can probably recite it chapter and verse. The key leadup to the signing started in 2009, where the then-35 year old put up a 6.7 fWAR season, finishing third in AL MVP voting, winning the AL Hank Aaron Award, getting named SI Sportsman of the Year, and of course winning his fifth World Series with the club. It would be the last truly great season for Jeter, and despite an All-Star nod and Gold Glove in 2010, that campaign would be his worst since 1996.

Hitting coach Kevin Long was instrumental in adjusting Jeter’s stride, and down the stretch he managed to his .342 in his final 80 PAs. But the writing was on the wall — at 36, The Captain no longer was who he once had been as his 10-year extension came to a close. That said, he was still The Captain.

Jeter’s reputation as a defender had outpaced his actual ability for the vast majority of his career, but by this time it was public knowledge, written about and indeed commented on by Cashman, who after the signing admitted Derek may be ticketed for the outfield to play out the remainder of his career. With all that in context, the Yankee GM went public with the free agent process, advising Jeter through the media that he would be wise to entertain offers from all bidders.

On its own that’s pretty standard, but this wasn’t a standard free agency case. Jeter had advised his agent not to seek out other offers, that he was a Yankee and was going to stay one. Despite giving up nearly all leverage, Derek’s camp was frustrated on multiple occasions by Cashman and Co. stonewalling during negotiations, and public reports that Jeter’s “salary demands” were “greedy.” When Jeter asked Cashman point-blank who he’d rather have at the six, he replied “Troy Tulowitzki,” as the Colorado shortstop was in his mid-twenties prime. It’s interesting to sit with all this reporting 15 years on, knowing what we know about aging curves, but also trying to imagine what it would be like for an older Aaron Judge to be a looming free agent.

There are players who you back up the Brink’s truck for, but those guys tend not to be in the mid-to-late 30s. There are players who you extend for as long as you can, but Jeter was already in decline and getting worse. Then there are players who you never want to see wearing any other jersey, and The Captain is perhaps the ur-example of this — a final season wearing a Reds or Royals uniform would have left a bad taste in everyone’s mouths.

While that maelstrom of circumstances was always going to make for a complicated free agency, Cashman’s consolidation of control only made things more difficult. The organization today is built almost entirely in the GM’s interest, and by all accounts he will remain functionally in charge of the Yankees until he doesn’t want to be anymore. The groundwork for that level of control started to be laid in the waning days of Joe Torre’s managerial tenure, but really came about as Hal and Hank began signing the checks.

Brian Cashman is not the worst GM in baseball—he is not even in the bottom half—but he does have some tells. When he really wants someone, the Yankees tend to get him, like the successful pursuit of Gerrit Cole in December 2019. When he really doesn’t, it’s a flat take-or-leave offer, the kind given to Robinson Canó (or in the case of Gleyber Torres, no offer at all). Given all that, it’s not impossible to conclude that Cashman would have preferred Jeter to walk, holding firm at three years and $45 million. He would eventually concede another six million total, plus an option year, but it took in-person meetings with Hal and Jeter’s camp before those wounds closed up.

While they did close, it always felt like those wounds scabbed over instead of fully healing. Despite joining the 3,000 Hit Club in July 2011, Jeter was largely middling and hurt. He responded with a very nice 2012 that saw him lead the league in hits with 216, albeit while not being quite the productive forced that he was in 2009. And of course he ended the season as painfully — physically and emotionally — as you can, with a late-season bone bruise leading to a broken ankle in extra innings of Game 1 of the ALCS against Detroit.

Jeter would never again play in the postseason. The Yankees were swept, and his injury recovery carried over into various ailments that limited his 2013 to just 17 games. That year was an October-less farewell tour for longtime teammate Mariano Rivera, and Jeter followed suit with his own somber swan song in 2014 after signing a final one-year deal. The ultimate team player, the perfect interviewer, Jeter was naturally frosty and closed off to the media and his superiors within the organization, but that feeling grew in his final years. I don’t think he ever really got over the perceived disrespect, nor did he ever maintain a relationship with Cashman the way he did with Torre or George Steinbrenner.

In the end, both sides ended up being right. Derek Jeter should have never played for any team other than the Yankees, and he never did. Cashman was also pretty on point in seeing the decline coming, even if he probably didn’t imagine quite how bad that final 2014 season would be. Overall, it was an impossible position for Cashman and Jeter, but they managed to pull out a solution.

I think Derek Jeter has been very skilled in crafting his public persona, certainly in a way his contemporaries like Alex Rodriguez couldn’t. I’m also not the biggest fan of Brian Cashman as a person. It would have sucked an incredible amount to see those last, great moments of Jeter’s career, the 3,000th hit, that final walk-off, happen anywhere else. In the end, they happened in the Bronx.

See more of the “50 Most Notable Yankees Free Agent Signings in 50 Years” series here.

The off-season is speeding by, and before you know it, there will be baseball games to play.

The Colorado Rockies will have pitchers and catchers report to their complex in Arizona on February 12th with the first full squad workout occurring shortly after. By the end of the month, spring training will be in full swing with the World Baseball Classic and the 2026 regular season visible on the horizon!

While we wait for the baseball world to awaken in the spring, it’s time once again to dip into our mailbox and answer questions from our readers here at Purple Row.

When are the Monforts going to sell the team to the Penners so I can start supporting the Rockies again? — Sherwyn in Aurora

When is the Walmart family going to buy the Rockies? — Michael in Canal Winchester

“Will the Rockies be sold?” is a common question we get here at Purple Row, both in our comments and on our social media feeds. These two particular questions focus on the Rockies being sold to the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group, which purchased the Denver Broncos NFL team from the Pat Bowlen Trust in 2022.

The sale gave the Broncos one of the richest ownership groups in professional sports and helped the team escape a post-Super Bowl 50 era that saw a miserable quarterback and head coaching carousel, seven consecutive losing seasons, and an eight-season playoff drought. It was the worst stretch of football in Broncos history since the franchise put up 13 straight losing seasons from their founding as an AFL team in 1960 through 1972.

The Broncos now appear to have found their franchise quarterback in Bo Nix and have made the post-season in back-to-back years, including making it all the way to the AFC Championship this season.

That all sounds very appealing! The Rockies have been mired in their own stretch of awful baseball with seven consecutive losing seasons, three consecutive seasons with 100 or more losses, and their historically miserable 2025 season that ended with a 43-119 record.

Charlie Monfort has been a part of the Rockies ownership group since 1992, with his brother Dick joining him shortly thereafter. The Monforts purchased the controlling stakes from the late Jerry McMorris in 2005 and have remained the organization’s primary owners ever since.

There have been rumors that Stan Kroenke—owner of Kroenke Sports Entertainment, the Denver Nuggets, and the Colorado Avalanche—offered to buy the team in the past, but nothing substantiated.

With that out of the way, I might as well tear off the bandage now.

The Monforts are never going to sell the Colorado Rockies. Not to the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group. Not to anyone. If your Rockies fandom is solely dependent on ownership changing, you may as well pick another team at this point.

There have been no signs that Dick and Charlie Monfort would be willing to sell the team. Although Charlie Monfort has largely stepped away from the Rockies’ day-to-day, Dick Monfort remains the chairman and CEO.

The main hope for Rockies fans is that Dick Monfort—known for being meddlesome—would take a step back from daily baseball operations and let someone else take charge. For what it’s worth, that appears to be what’s happening. Monfort’s eldest son Walker was promoted to executive vice president mid-season last year, and he has since brought in an entirely new and expanded front office, new executives, and a revamped coaching staff.

With the Monfort family firmly at the helm of the Rockies organization with no indication of a sale in the pipeline. What do you think the team can do outside of heavy spending to become a playoff caliber ball club? The rebuild doesn’t seem plausible with our farm system and players often leaving / getting dealt as they are peaking. I don’t believe coaching is the difference, it seems as though they need a “Moneyball” type discovery to be competitive.— Chris in Lone Tree

You’re right that this team will never be heavy spenders like the Los Angeles Dodgers or the New York Mets. The Monforts simply don’t have the revenue or the capital. They will never be able to defer over a billion dollars in contract money or sign multiple free agent super stars.

With that being said, small- and mid-market teams can be competitive, playoff-caliber ball clubs. They just have to do everything else right when it comes to baseball operations: drafting, developing, and making both smart and cost-effective free agent moves.

The Rockies have historically not been good at any of these things. That’s where this rebuild truly starts, and it’s far too early to write the whole thing off as implausible.

So far, the organization is doing all of the right things. The entire coaching staff has been revamped—especially the pitching and player development side of things. Coaching is a tremendous difference maker, especially when they are young, innovative, and bought in to the idea of making baseball at altitude work. Meanwhile, Walker Monfort has also brought in a new and expanded front office, and that front office is working on evaluation and deployment of better resources throughout the farm system.

The front office also has to evaluate the talent within the system. The Rockies historically have held on to prospects and players for too long, even if they don’t fit into the vision of the organization or no longer have peak value. We have evidence that this is changing with the team letting go of several former top prospects—most notably Drew Romo—this off-season.

The Rockies have done things too poorly for too long. This is a from-the-ashes rebuild and we’re only just getting started. The 2026 season is about building a foundation and making incremental improvements to avoid repeating the 2025 season. It won’t be for several years until things start to fully come together.

What positon is Condon going to play in 2026? — Firedinger in Greenville

My understanding is that the Rockies view Charlie Condon solely as a first baseman moving forward.

Prior to the draft, Condon only played one season of third base at the University of Georgia in 2024 while the less defensively versatile Corey Collins—eventually drafted by the Mets—enjoyed a stupendous season at first. In 2023 he played mostly first base and outfield.

Condon played third base and left field in his professional debut with the High-A Spokane Indians in 2024, but it’s clear moving forward that the Rockies are prioritizing first base. In 2025 he played first base in 74 of the 99 games he appeared in, with ten appearances as a designated hitter, 11 in left field, and only five at third base. When Condon attended the Arizona Fall League, he played exclusively at first base.

While Condon is a versatile enough defender, he is still a bat-first prospect and his glove profiles best for first base.

Do you have a favorite piece of Rockies memorabilia? I just got a signed Chris Nelson ball at Rockies Fest that’s my new favorite addition to mine 🙂 — AB303 in Denver

I got some of the other Purple Row writers to chime in on this!

Evan Lang: “I own a lot of Rockies memorabilia, but my favorite is a Todd Helton autographed baseball from the 1998 season that my dad gave me when I was a kid. It was my first ever autographed item.”

Sam Bradfield: “I have a signed Ryan McMahon drawstring backpack from when he won the Arizona Fall League Home Run Derby in 2016. I didn’t have a baseball or anything, so I asked him to sign my bag and he did.”

Skyler Timmins: “I have the ticket stub of my Dad’s first Rockies game in 1993. It was a rain check for August 20 against the New York Mets that was played as part of a doubleheader the next day, Rockies won 8-6.”

Renee Dechert: “I have two things. I got one of the original @ Rockies purple t-shirts, and I have a ball Jordan Beck fouled into the press box.”

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

After claiming the Detroit Tigers first Midwest League title since 2015 as manager of the High-A West Michigan Whitecaps, Tony Cappuccilli is moving on up. The Tigers parted ways with long-time minor league coach and manager, Andrew Graham, following the 2025 season. Cappuccilli will take over the Double-A Erie SeaWolves from Graham in 2026. The move gives players contiunity as many of his Whitecaps will be advancing in the toughest jump in competition in the minor leagues.

The 2025 Whitecaps were one of the greatest teams in Midwest League history, compiling a ridiculous 92-39 record. In the first half they had the advantage of stacking Kevin McGonigle, Max Clark, and Josue Briceño at the top of the order, giving them the best trio of hitters in the whole league. However, they didn’t miss a beat when those players graduated to Double-A Erie, nor even after the Tigers traded away two of their most valuable pitchers in RHP Josh Randall and lefty reliever Micah Ashman at the trade deadline.

Players seem to respond very well to Cappuccilli and his staff, and his style seems to align more with the Tigers overall development philosophies these days, whereas Graham had been around the org for almost two full decades, with some sources suggesting he may have been a little out of step with the new front office. Of course after 16 years coaching and managing in the Tigers’ system, maybe it was just time to do other things. Graham was the Florida State League’s Manager of the Year in 2023, so it’s not like he didn’t have success.

Either way, players like Briceño and other 2026 Whitecaps will form the bulk of Cappuccilli’s roster in Erie, and the Tigers appear to believe that consistent voice and longer term relationship with the coaching staff could benefit their players. We’ll have to see if either of McGonigle or Clark seems any more Double-A time to start the year. It seems unlikely in McGonigle’s case at least.

Moving up to take over the Whitecaps will be Rene Rivera, who won the Florida State League title last year in his first season managing the Lakeland Flying Tigers. Salvador Paniagua, who coached the Complex League Tigers to a title last year as well, moves up to manage the Flying Tigers in Rivera’s place. Stalwart coach and manager, and former Tigers’ catcher, Brayan Pena, will manage the FCL Tigers in the Complex League this season.

Gabe Alvarez remains the manager of the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens, with both hitting coaches Mike Hessman and Francisco Contreras returning, along with pitching coach Doug Bochtler.

Marco Yepez and Sandy Acevedo will manage the Tigers two Dominican Summer League rosters.

Of note is the fact that each full season team away from the main Lakeland complex has a bulked up coaching staff these days, along with their athletic trainers, a strength and conditioning coach, and a dietician as well.

We’re still waiting to hear who will replace Gabe Ribas as the Tigers Director of Pitching in the system. There was some thought that Bochtler might be considered for that role, but it’s also possible that Bochtler would prefer to remain in the dugout, working with the same group of guys, rather than handling overall development plans for the whole organization’s worth of pitchers. That open role is the biggest job in the organization to fill this offseason, and spring camp is getting close, so presumably we’ll have an answer soon.

Previous Winner

12. Xavier Isaac, 1B
22 | L/L | 6’3” | 240
AA | .201/.366/.446 (144 wRC+) 175 PA, 9 HR, 1 SB, 19.4% BB, 29.7% K

Isaac had his season cut short large-in-part due to the discovery of a brain tumor, disrupting an otherwise great start to the season that duplicated his cup of coffee in Double-A as a 20-year old, despite some minor arm injuries along the way. He has the best power projection in the system, and if he can hold his own for a full season in 2026 — particularly against southpaws, which is somewhat of a concern — the former first round pick (29th overall, 2021) could see his status restored near the top of the Rays prospect rankings.

Isaac made a surge this poll, and even convinced some voters to change their stance on down-ballot players, in order to ensure he made it onto the list by one vote. A new player getting a vote this time around was Urbina. Testers was a bit unclear, so I’m adding Brayden Taylor. Please get your suggestions in for the next prospect profile to be added!

Candidates

Caden Bodine, C
22 | S/R| 5’10” | 200
A (BAL) | .326/.408/.349 (133 wRC+) 49 PA, 0 HR, 0 SB, 5 BB, 8 K

Drafted 30th overall in 2025, Bodine was acquired in the Shane Baz trade. He profiles as a relatively safe prospect thanks to 60 grade bat-to-ball skills, and comfortably-plus blocking and receiving behind the plate. There is some concern that his smaller frame limits him to fringe power, but those concerns are off-set by solid plate discipline from both sides of the plate; his sweeter swing is left handed. All catching prospects will see their value proposition shift with the challenge system, but his defensive actions, leadership, and receiving give him real value, projecting him as a solid major league contributor.

Slater de Brun, OF
18 | L/L | 5’10” | 187

Drafted 37th overall in 2025, through a draft pick traded by the Rays, de Brun was essentially re-acquired in the Shane Baz trade. Like many Rays outfield prospects he’s not expected to develop much power, but compensates with an ability to hit to all fields, and has the benefit of years to develop. His hit tool rates plus thanks to a quick, compact swing, and his double-plus speed elevates both his baserunning and range in center; he has a solid arm and can stick long term. The key to his development will be improving pitch selection to maximize his power potential. Despite not yet playing in a pro game, he’s a good bet to skip the complex league and debut in Charleston this season.

Homer Bush Jr.
24 | R/R | 6’3” | 215
AA | .301/.375/.360 (122 wRC+) 546 PA, 0 HR, 57 SB, 8.8% BB, 17.9% K

Acquired in the 2024 Jason Adam trade, the starting center fielder at Double-A passed the test of advanced pitching, but just barely. He lacks in-game power due to a lack of use of his lower half in his swing, and he whiffed more often than you can for long term success with a low-power approach. His calling cards are Rays-grade defense and plus-speed, having notably swiped 57 bags in back-to-back seasons.

Nathan Flewelling, C
19 | L/R | 6’2” | 200
A | .229/.393/.336 (126 wRC+) 439 PA, 6 HR, 9 SB, 20.3% BB, 27.6% K
A+ | 22 PA, 4 H, 5 BB, 6 K

The 94th overall pick from 2024, Flewelling made his debut at 18 years young and caught a full season (75 C, 26 DH), plus a five game cup of coffee (3 C, 2 DH). Taking the longview, he could grow into 50-60 grade power with 50 grade defense, which makes him one to follow. His plus zone awareness at the plate offsets his lagging contact, and most importantly for the position his ability to call games and frame pitches are already plus. A strong season with the bat at High-A could vault him into Top-100 consideration.

Trevor Harrison, RHP
20 | 6’4” | 225
A | 2.61 ERA, 3.26 FIP, 82.2 IP (17 GS), 22.4% K, 10.7% BB
A+ | 3.33 ERA, 4.26 FIP, 24.1 IP (5 GS), 23.8% K, 12.4% BB

Harrison entered the season as Baseball America’s top pitcher in the system thanks to a cleaned up delivery and high heat. He ran into some bumps in the road by running up his pitch count against batters, but he still made it over 100 innings in 22 starts. A power pitcher through and through, his hard slider flirts with cutter classification and could evolve into two distinct pitches down the road. It will be interesting to see how his change up plays as he’s challenged at higher levels, but for now he has premium stuff and the upside of a rotation anchor. (video)

Tre’ Morgan, 1B/LF
23 | L/L | 6’0” | 215
AAA | .274/.398/.412 (119 wRC+) 402 PA, 8 HR, 8 SB, 15.9% BB, 19.2% K

Morgan continued to hit without power in 2025, a great discouragement for some evaluators, but his present 50-grade hit tool and feel for the zone allow a major league projection. He continued his improved, quieter two-strike approach in 2025 that built on his success retooling his swing in the AFL last year. The Rays gave Morgan 14 starts in Left Field last season, and Baseball America called the defense “playable,” but his value is tied to his plus-plus defense at First.

Aidan Smith, OF
21 | R/R | 6’2” | 190
A+ | .237/.331/.388 (114 wRC+) 459 PA, 14 HR, 41 SB, 11.5% BB, 31.2% K

Acquired in the Arozarena trade, Smith became the prince who was promised, a five tool athlete with a strong bat, good face, and a preternatural glove in center field. That promise unraveled a bit in 2025, with his strikeout rate rocketing nine percent and his power stroke faltering after facing harder velocities in High-A, causing both his hit and power grades to drop into the 40’s. It was a full transformation into a “center field” profile, but with his ceiling that’s not a compliment. He plays with a fire, but the dip in contact rate left some evaluators feeling burned.

Brendan Summerhill, OF
22 | L/R | 6’3” | 200
A | .333/.429/.444 (160 wRC+) 42 PA, 0 HR, 5 SB, 6 BB, 5 K

Following an All-Star performance at the Cape Cod summer league, Summerhill exhibited some of the best bat-to-ball skills in NCAA as a junior at Arizona. His draft stock took a minor hit due to injury (broken hand from from punching a cooler) and was drafted 42nd overall, but Summerhill rebounded well with a dominant stop at Charleston to finish the year. Summerhill has plus barrel control, allowing for a high-contact approach for his long swing. He has plus speed as well, which provides a chance to stick in center. Evaluators would like to see more power to complete a five-tool profile. Even if the power doesn’t materialize, it’s an above average contributor’s projection.

Brayden Taylor, 2B/3B
24 | L/R | 6’0” | 180
AA | .173/.289/.286 (77 wRC+) 437 PA, 8 HR, 17 SB, 14% BB, 27.7% K
AFL | .264/.400/.472 (.384 wOBA) 65 PA, 1 HR, 5 SB, 12 BB, 19 K

Taylor entered 2025 as a top-100 prospect after demolishing High-A (154 wRC+), and left 2025 as an afterthought on prospect lists, although he was selected as an Arizona Fall League “Fall Star” in between, where he worked to keep his chase rate low and his hard hit rate high. The juice must have been worth the squeeze, as the Rays have elected to invite Taylor to major league Spring Training this year.

Jose Urbina, RHP
20 | 6’3” | 180
A | 2.05 ERA, 3.58 FIP, 92.1 IP (19 GS), 26.4% K, 8.2% BB
A+ | 2 ER (2 HR), 4.0 IP (1 GS), 5 K, 0 BB

Good pitchers grow and adjust, and Urbina has done that consistently at an age young for his level. Physically he has grown in strength, sitting at 96 with the fastball after flashing high octane in 2024, and technically he has grown, refining his dialed up slider and his two-plane curveball into complementary pitches — which lack plus command but are thrown with feel. He shouldered a starter’s workload at 19, and was awarded one additional start at High-A, where he allowed two solo shots and struck out five. Overall, the age, body, and body of work have him on the trajectory of top prospect lists in the near future.

This is an article to politely ask Guardians President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti and General Manager Mike Chernoff to stop repeating a new talking point they have offered to media twice, now. If you’re wondering why I am writing this… well, they haven’t done anything else for us to talk about, so blame them.

Speaking of not doing anything, Guardians’ front office obviously knew when they emerged from their mid-December to mid-January winter’s nap, they would be asked why they did nothing to address an offense that ranked 28th in MLB in 2025… aside from re-signing Austin Hedges, who is the worst hitter in MLB since his debut among players with similar plate appearance numbers. I have to say, addressing this issue would be a challenge for the most skilled of communicators. They obviously cannot tell the truth, which is very clearly that they have been given instructions to limit the amount of money the team has committed for 2026 and 2027, given the likelihood of a lockout producing a shortened or canceled season in 2027, resulting in reduced revenues for a team that is – apparently (?) – strapped for cash.

So, one approach they have both attempted is to emphasize that the team doesn’t want to sign someone who will block their younger players. Ok. Brayan Rocchio, Juan Brito, Travis Bazzana, Chase DeLauter, C.J. Kayfus and George Valera need a clear runway to prove themselves as major leaguers. For sure, the team will not, then, leave any of these players in Columbus until May or June to gain an extra year of team control/avoid super-2 issues. Surely. But, aside from that, any Guardians’ fan with access to FanGraphs knows that the team is STILL missing some right-handed thump, and, someone who can competently play centerfield, hopefully a right-handed hitter.

Antonetti and Chernoff have responded to the latter concern saying that even though they have made competitive offers for right-handed outfielders who can play centerfield, they have just been too gosh darn honest with those players, letting them know they will have to platoon, and those players have chosen to play elsewhere with better chances of increased playing time. Leaving aside the fact that at least one of these players would have chosen to compete for time in Cleveland if offered more MONEY to do so, I guess we are supposed to admire our front office for their exemplary honesty. Surely, they’ve always been upfront and forthright with players and fans and never had to hide any motivations the team might have that conflict with their interests. Surely. Props to them. Ok.

But, anyway, the real problem I have with these two gentleman is a talking point Chris Antonetti brought up at the Akron Rubber Ducks’ dinner and Mike Chernoff repeated to Cleveland dot com columnist, Terry Pluto. Here’s Antonetti:

“Prior to the 2022 baseball season what Major League free agents did the Cleveland Guardians sign? …Why am I bringing that up? Those are not the names everyone is talking about. Both 2022 and ’24 we won the Central Division finding young players opportunities. In 2022, we chose not to sign the Eddie Rosarios of the year.””

And here’s Chernoff:

“We won the (Central Division) title in 2022 and 2024, I’ll give you 100 bucks if you can name the free agents (hitters) we signed.”

Coincidentally, Antonetti, whose wallet is apparently a bit tighter than Chernoff’s, ended up paying CtC’s own Tommy Pecoraro that $20 for giving the answer that in 2022 the Guardians signed Bryan Shaw and Luke Maile. As Tommy has pointed out, Antonetti has now paid him more than he has any major league free agent outfielders this offseason. For 2024, the answer was Austin Hedges and Ben Lively (Terry Pluto wrote that it was Ramon Laureano, who was an arbitration signing, but ANYWHOO…).

Chernoff, also, in a mind-blowing quote (to me), told Pluto, “We don’t play (try to sign) top tier free agents.” Um… is he allowed to say that? Does MLB PA have some sort of grievance here to file about a team that receives revenue sharing openly saying they simply are not going to sign top-tier free agents? I honestly don’t know.

I realize that Antonetti and Chernoff are working in the perfect market to try this… junk… to be polite. The media isn’t going to push back hard on this (with apologies to Zack Meisel of the Athletic, who does push back, and Paul Hoynes, who will occasionally make a run at resisting the company narrative) and it’s not going to be discussed AT ALL on sports radio airwaves who would prefer to spend discuss the drama around the Browns’ defensive coordinator than the only superstar in Cleveland history who has taken a huge paycut to make sure he can play an entire Hall of Fame Career in this city.

The Guardians’ brass are using 2022 and 2024 as their examples, presumably because the team made playoff runs in both years. I wonder why they aren’t using 2016 when they made a World Series run? Could it be because their signings of veteran stopgaps Mike Napoli and Rajai Davis as well as trades of numerous top prospects for Andrew Miller ended up propelling that run? No one should expect their favorite team to hit on every veteran signing. However, when there is a hole on the roster, small market teams should – at the very least – target affordable veterans to fill that hole and raise the floor of a roster that has playoff potential. Sometimes, you hit on Napoli and Davis (and even Juan Uribe was helpful in giving a young Jose Ramirez confidence in 2016). Sometimes you don’t. But it needs to be attempted.

It’s, frankly, condescending to expect that fans can’t remember signings like Mike Zunino, Cam Gallagher, Josh Bell and Luke Maile. The most rabid fans among us spend all offseason futilely HOPING for some kind of activity and start immediately trying to imagine how these kind of additions might turn out to be brilliant moves. Additionally, bringing up how inconsequential these moves are is an odd choice given that the teams of 2022 and 2024 did not win a pennant or a title. What if you’d actually spend some money, Chris? What if you’d signed someone who made an all-star team and led us to another win or two in the playoffs, Mike? Even the casual fans would remember that player’s name. Hey… maybe we should try that instead of these cute little trivia contests? I am completely open to a Rhys Hoskins or Randal Grichuk late offseason Hail Mary to simply increase this team’s floor against LHP by even the tiniest bit.

But, hey, my writers can always use some extra money. So, go ahead with this PR campaign of asking about your pitiful attempts to dabble in free agency, I guess. It’s not like I am going to change their feelings with another blog post. Thank goodness we have Jose Ramirez, and I am now going to go back to being excited about seeing the exciting young players they have in the organization in 2026. I sincerely hope that this gambit on internal development pays off for the team and they can laugh at this article and others for years to come. No one will be happier than I will if that happens. But, running the lowest payroll in MLB and touting your track record of getting the most out of the least is a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for ‘em.